Tendulkar's legacy to cricket is more important: Boycott

Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has welcomed Sachin Tendulkar's decision to retire from Test cricket, mentioning that his legacy to cricket is far more important than playing on for a few more years.

Writing for The Telegraph, Boycott said Tendulkar's decision to hang up his boots after playing his 200th Test will help him retain his reputation as one of the greatest batsmen, which might have not been the case had he decided to prolong his career.

"His legacy to cricket is more important than playing on for another year or two. That would not have enhanced his reputation. It would only swell his bank balance and he does not need any more money because he is already one of the richest cricketers ever," Boycott said.

"What he requires is to retain his reputation as one of the finest and greatest batsmen who has ever lived," he added.

Sachin Tendulkar's illustrious career will come to an end after he plays his 200th Test against West Indies in November and Boycott said it was an exceptional achievement, being able to retain his form for 24 years.

"Playing in 200 Test matches is a remarkable achievement. I realise modern cricketers have the opportunity to play far more Tests in any calendar year than players of previous generations. But to be able to clock up that many matches a player needs exceptional ability to retain his form, which we all know can rise and fall. He must stay very fit, which becomes harder as you get older."

The Yorkshire great said the most important thing that separates Tendulkar from others was his ability to retain his hunger for playing the game year after year unlike others who would have had enough after 10 to 12 years.

"On top of all that he must maintain his enjoyment of playing and that is not easy because you become jaded after years of travelling the world on overseas tours and playing in many different cities for Tests in India. After 10 or 12 years at the top most guys have had enough so to play for as long as Tendulkar you need to be single-minded and driven to the point of wanting to play cricket more than anything else in the world."

"If that desire and passion to play cricket ever subsides, no amount of skill can make up for it. On top of 20 years of Test match cricket, Sachin has played in 463 one-day internationals. And remember the one-day game is more emotionally and physically draining because of its frenetic pace," Boycott wrote.

Sachin Tendulkar has played the game for nearly quarter of a century and Boycott said he has been able to do so as he has been a complete batsman with exemplary technique and an all-round ability.

"He has been the complete batsmen. He has a wonderful technique and an all-round game that can play spin, seam or fast bowling. He has been a model batsman with concentration and patience that any youngster should model themselves on. He has made so many hundreds on good pitches, but I think you see his class really shine when the pitch is helpful to the bowlers. When you have a deteriorating surface it makes it more difficult for batsmen to stay in, never mind score runs. It is then that your technique, footwork and judgment of length have to be precise so you can survive."

Boycott cited some of Tendulkar's knocks to describe the batting legend's proficiency in handling different kinds of situations and come out on top.

"I remember seeing him at Edgbaston when he was a 23-year-old in 1996. On a pitch with variable pace and bounce India were hammered by England but he made 122 out of his side's total of 219 and never looked in any difficulty. I also saw him play some magnificent shots against South Africa at Cape Town in January 1997 during one afternoon of brilliant strokeplay. He and Mohammad Azharuddin plundered 222 runs off 39 overs. They smashed them all around the park. Sachin made 169 and Azhar 115 after coming together when India were 58 for five. It was thrilling counter-attacking against a good pace attack."

Boycott said Tendulkar was also a brilliant player of spin bowling, mentioning that he handled two of cricket's greatest spin bowlers with utmost ease.

"He has also been an outstanding player of two of the greatest spin bowlers cricket has ever seen in Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan," Boycott said.

"I watched him in March 1998 play two brilliant innings against Warne on deteriorating pitches. During the first Test in Madras he made 155 not out in the second innings on a spinning pitch. When it turned again at Bangalore, and India lost the match, he scored 177 in the first innings. He went after Warne. When he bowled around wicket in the rough Sachin hit him against the spin. That takes some doing, let me tell you. Ask all those English batsmen who got out to big spinning balls from Warne how hard that is," he added.

Recalling Tendulkar's stint with Yorkshire, Boycott said the county was lucky to have him as the first overseas player to play County cricket.

"We were lucky at Yorkshire to have time with him in 1992 when he became our first overseas professional. It seems ridiculous now but there was a lot of opposition to signing an overseas player after nearly 130 years of picking cricketers only born in the county," Boycott said.

"The supporters and players all adored him. He was so polite, well mannered. He was only 19 and an embryo of the great player he would become but he had something about him. Some people say he did not make a lot of runs. But what was important for us was whoever we signed had to fit in. We could not afford any bad publicity and he was perfect. He has maintained that dignity throughout his career," he added.

Speaking about Tendulkar's decline, Boycott said it is something that every player goes through and the trick lied in knowing when to call it time.

"Naturally he has declined as a player. That happens to everyone. Age catches up with you. You reach your thirties and the reflexes slow down a little bit, physical fitness is not quite what it was and you slip off your perch. Clever batsmen rely on years of experience to offset what mother nature has taken away. It is a gradual decline. But it can only go on so long. The smart ones realise it is time to retire before slipping so far down as to embarrass your supporters.

"None of us want to leave the stage. The passion, the emotion and love of the game is in our blood. We want it to go on forever. But the trick is knowing when to go," he said.